Hello to the WINNERS Lacrosse family!

For those of you who don’t know, my name is Lyndsey Munoz and I’m the new Program Director here at WINNERS. I’m about three months into it and I absolutely love it. Something that I was really concerned with when I was on the job hunt after graduation from Stanford University was finding a job that I could wake up and be excited to go to everyday. I definitely have been doing that for the past three months, and am so grateful for it.

During my last two years at Stanford, I blogged for Lacrosse Magazine and really enjoyed it. I think it’s a great way to form connections and spread awareness about certain topics. Now that I’m settled in, I’m pleased to bring you the first edition of the WINNERS Lacrosse blog. What we’re aiming to do with the blog is to answer the question, “why lacrosse?” Why is lacrosse such a great tool to reach out to boys and girls in urban areas and impact their lives forever? What is it about lacrosse that makes it so special?

We hope to answer those questions and more through this blog. I will be sharing my experiences, as well as our Executive Director Matt Breslin, and some other guest bloggers in the lacrosse and WINNERS Lacrosse community to share how lacrosse has impacted our lives for the better.

So here we go...

Lacrosse is an outlet, as most sports are for kids, but for me it was so much more. When I was younger, and even sometimes today, I was a very shy and quiet kid. I never really liked being in the spotlight; doing anything in front of people was my worst fear. I wouldn’t even try on the ballet costume for the nutcracker when I was 5 because I was so scared. I had always liked sports, since I had an older brother, and was competitive and tough from him, too.

Naturally, since he started playing lacrosse, I had to, too. I started playing when I was five and I liked it more than my other sports but I wasn’t quite in love with it yet. One day, our coach asked me to play goalie. I dreaded it so much, as most girls do … what sane person enjoys the very likely chance of getting hurt? I got in the cage, and it was great. I started training and all of a sudden I was actually pretty good.

Photo Credit: The Baltimore Sun

Playing goalie literally changed me. I was required to be loud, assertive, take risks, be confident, all things that I wasn’t off of the field. For once, I enjoyed being the center of attention, the one people were counting on (although, maybe that’s just my inner middle child syndrome talking). The cherry on top was the less running of course, but it didn’t mean I could be lazy. I started taking it seriously, and kept getting better and loving it even more.

Since lacrosse has so many different positions, there’s a fit for every kind of kid out there. With a little help from coaches, you’ll be able to have that “aha!” moment, too. The great thing is that a lot of those qualities that I developed playing goalie began showing up off of the field, too. I wouldn’t be who I am today without lacrosse, and that is a big reason why.